Chapter 377: Tournament (Part 1)
At a certain café.
"I feel so honored to be able to participate in the Rubello Tournament with Mr. Ash and Ms. May!"
Tsukiko still couldn't suppress the excitement in her heart.
"Oh, stop it, you're exaggerating!"
May was getting a bit carried away.
"See, so humble! Ms. May's performance in the previous few competitions was really great!"
"Really?"
"Of course, we've watched almost all the Grand Festivals. Ms. May reached the finals right after her debut, and Mr. Ash reached the peak the moment he debuted and took home the championship."
"That's right, that's right. Ms. May, your progress is amazing. Every competition, you bring a brand-new shock."
"..."
Several young married women chimed in, showering the two with compliments.
Ash let these compliments go in one ear and out the other, completely unaffected.
But for May, her mindset began to drift.
Because they were all moms, the group of young women didn't stay long before returning home, leaving only Tsukiko, who wanted to introduce their Pokémon to each other.
Under Tsukiko's guidance, Ash's group arrived at a quiet park.
"These are my Pokémon, Lairon and Flareon," Tsukiko said.
"Is this a Flareon?"
It was May's first time seeing a Flareon, so she took out her Pokédex to check the information.
"I plan to use these two Pokémon to participate in the competition. May, have you decided which Pokémon you want to use?" Tsukiko asked, looking at May with confusion.
As for Ash, she wasn't even confident she could beat him, so asking would be a waste of time.
"I... I haven't decided yet!"
May was also struggling with which one to use.
"The competition isn't until the day after tomorrow, May. Take your time to think about it," Ash reminded her.
"That's true."
May nodded.
"Mom, I've prepared the ingredients for dinner!"
At this moment, a girl carrying a vegetable basket appeared before them.
"Hoshika? You... I'm so sorry, I completely forgot!" Tsukiko said, feeling a bit guilty.
"I knew it. Since I saw you hadn't come home for a long time, Mom, I figured you were busy with the PMDM event..."
Hoshika's maturity and stability contrasted sharply with Tsukiko's impulsiveness, making for a huge difference in their personalities and relationship dynamic.
It gave Ash the illusion that the two might have swapped identity templates.
After some conversation, Hoshika ruffled Pikachu and Eevee, then went home with her mother, Tsukiko, feeling satisfied.
After finding a random restaurant to grab a meal, Ash's group returned to the Pokémon Center.
In order to perform better at the Changshou Tournament, May took her Pokémon directly to do some special training.
However, in Ash's view, her special training process was terrible.
The moves performed by whichever Pokémon she was using were messy; they neither formed combination moves nor showcased the elegance of a single move.
"It seems May's mindset has developed a problem," Brock said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, she's been over-complimented and is getting a bit carried away. But experiencing some setbacks is a good thing."
Ash was quite open-minded about this; after all, only lessons learned from personal experience can be truly unforgettable.
Moreover, during this period, under his guidance, May's strength had indeed risen a bit too quickly, and she needed a reasonable reality check.
"Ash, you aren't planning to remind her?" Brock asked, looking at Ash with some surprise.
"This is a hurdle she must experience for her growth. It's better to face it sooner so she can remedy it. If she waits until she's standing at the top to face something like this, she could easily be devastated."
"That's true. Along this journey, only the Dewford Gym challenge was a real hurdle for May; everything else has been too smooth."
Two and a half hours later.
As soon as May returned, she huffed and declared: "I've decided! I'm going to use Bulbasaur in the competition the day after tomorrow!"
Hearing May's words, Brock was speechless and said: "Uh... May, would you like to think it over a bit more before making a decision?"
"I've thought it over very clearly. I can't fall behind Drew. He's using his newly caught Masquerain, and I'll use my newly caught Bulbasaur. Neither of us will have an advantage!"
Regarding May's stubborn decision, Ash and Brock exchanged a look and could only shrug.
They were certain that this Rubello Pokémon Contest would be the biggest Waterloo of May's life.
...
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these two days, May trained Bulbasaur hard, putting almost all her energy into it.
Of course, such hard training did have some results, but in Ash's view, it was far from enough.
The ever-present Host Vivian hosted as usual: "Dear audience, the Rubello Pokémon Contest has now begun. This tournament is an R1-level tournament, meaning only Coordinators who possess more than one Ribbon can participate, so the competition is quite intense..."
In the waiting area.
May was using the experience she had gathered from her many competitions to counsel Ms. Tsukiko, who was in a nervous state.
Ash and Drew sat to the side, quietly watching May's performance, with absolutely no intention of getting involved.
After all, they weren't the ones embarrassing themselves; they were just there to watch the show.
Due to the entry restrictions, the scale of the Rubello Pokémon Contest wasn't large, so the progress of the first round of judging was quite fast. Not long after it began, it was Ash's turn to take the stage.
For the first round of judging, Ash sent out Totodile. With the stage created by Water Pulse and Psybeam, showcasing Totodile's soulful dance moves, Ash scored an excellent 29 points.
Next, May took the stage for the first round of judging. To be safe, she didn't use Bulbasaur for the first round, but instead chose her Grand Festival ace, Beautifly.
Beautifly did not fail May's expectations, securing a great score of 28.2 points for her.
The next person to take the stage was Ms. Tsukiko.
She chose to use Flareon for the first round of judging.
Flareon released Flame Vortex to create a spiral tunnel, then used Tackle to dash through the tunnel for a flashy entrance, followed by using Swift and Flamethrower to complete a fiery red star creative performance.
This performance earned Ms. Tsukiko a good score of 27.5.
As the final contestant of the first round of judging, Drew put on a wonderful performance with his Roselia, scoring 28.7 points.
With that, the four people advancing to the second round of judging were determined: Ash, Drew, May, and Tsukiko.
But the grouping for the second round of judging was interesting.
Ash and Drew were matched up in the first round.
Regarding this grouping, Drew did not fall into anxiety; on the contrary, he had long wanted to face off against Ash.
May and Ms. Tsukiko were in the second match.
After a short commercial break, the second round of judging began.
"Mr. Ash, I can finally battle you!" Drew said excitedly.
"Yeah, I've been looking forward to this battle for a long time too. Drew, let me see your growth!" Ash smiled.